How I paint a Maine Lobster on a buoy

Today, I thought I would share my painting process for my most popular design - Maine Lobsters on buoys.

 These buoys are 2 3/4" tall.  Perfect for Wedding favors, Key Chains and Christmas ornaments, all available at my Etsy Shop MaineWeddingArtist 

I start by painting two coats of white acrylic paint on a wooden buoy. 

I use red and orange paint for the lobster and black for the eyes.  

I have five steps using a size 0 round brush, to get the basic form of the lobster, starting with head, then the body & tail.  Then I paint most of the front claws.

 I switch to an even smaller brush size 0/10 round for the very fine details for the last four steps.  I start by finishing up the front claws, then add the legs, tentacles and the eyes. 

  

 

I let the buoys dry for 24 hrs.

 I tie on a 12" length of twine and seal them with one coat of water based acrylic varnish.  This adds durability and brings out and enhances all the colors.  I love this part!  It's like putting frosting on a cake.  Oh, I forgot to mention, these make great additions to cake toppers for nautical/coastal inspired events.

I can tie the twine on to the buoys in two different ways.  The buoys can hang tip up with an eye screw, so they have that popular look, like when you see them on barns and sheds.  Or handle up, so they have the look of bobbing in the ocean, to mark the location of the lobster traps.

This is one of my most popular custom designs requested for weddings.

 I paint my signature Maine Lobster design on many surfaces, along with a few of my other popular designs, Maine Lupines and Blueberries.  I will share how I paint them on a future blog post.  Until then you can see many more of designs and offerings both at my website maineweddingartist.com and my Etsy Shop MaineWeddingArtist.  

Real Maine Weddings

Wedding Buoy Favors for a Real Maine Wedding.

Each year Real Maine Weddings Magazine hosts an amazing contest for one lucky couple to win their Dream Wedding.   They pick a different location each year, showcasing all the amazing diversity that our magnificent State offers.  This year's Real Maine Wedding 2015  will be held in beautiful midcoast Maine.  I few months ago, I met the with winning couple, Christina & Luke, to design their buoys.  I painted a whole bunch of samples for them to pick from.  We narrowed it down to four designs and after a bit of tweaking, these are the final buoys they will be giving their guests on October 16, 2015.

   

I painted 100 custom buoy favors for their guests.

Blue Lobsters

 Traditional Red Lobsters

 State of Maine

Longitude & Latitude

 On one side of the buoy, the longitude and latitude represents where their first Wedding journey began, at the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, where Luke proposed to Christina. On the other side of the buoy, is the location of an even greater journey,  at the Camden Amphitheater, where they will make their wedding vows, witnessed by cherished family and friends.  The nautical flags represent the first letter of their names.

Real Maine Weddings 2015

I paint your memories.  I love what I do.

Welcome

I am glad you are here.  I have been blogging for a long time, on and off, at BethsCraftRoom.blogspot.com.  When I started that blog, I began a creative journey that I longed for since I was a teenager.   A lot has happened since then...

    

 What began as a "Hobby" named Beth's Craft Room, turned into a pretty awesome part time business called Maine Wedding Artist.  It's been quite a journey.  This spring on May 1st, I quit my day job of 21 years and now I design and custom paint, full time out of my home studio, on the beautiful coast of Maine.  I paint your memories and I love what I do.